Electronic device and method for controlling application thereof

Abstract

Disclosed is an electronic device including a housing, a touch screen display, a processor, and a memory which stores instructions that, when executed, that cause the processor to execute an application corresponding to a first state to perform the first state, determine whether a second state is executable, based on a first screen of the application, if the second state is executable, determine a virtual user input enabling an execution screen of the application to be changed from the first screen to a second screen corresponding to the second state, display the second screen in the touch screen display based on the virtual user input, and determine whether an execution of the second state is completed, based on the second screen.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic device comprising:
 a housing;   a touch screen display placed inside the housing and exposed to outside the housing through a first portion of the housing;   a microphone placed inside the housing and exposed to the outside of the housing through a second portion of the housing;   at least one speaker placed inside the housing and exposed to the outside of the housing through a third portion of the housing;   a wireless communication circuit placed inside the housing;   a processor placed inside the housing and electrically connected to the touch screen display, the microphone, the speaker, and the wireless communication circuit; and   a memory placed inside the housing and electrically connected to the processor,   wherein the memory is configured to:   store a first group of application programs including a first plurality of function calls; and   store a second group of application programs downloadable from an application providing platform residing on a first external server,   wherein the memory further stores an accessibility framework, which includes a second plurality of function calls and which is a part of an operating system of the electronic device, and   wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:   receive a user request including a request for performing a task using at least one of the first group of application programs and the second group of application programs, through at least one of the touch screen display and the microphone;   transmit data associated with the user request to a second external server through the wireless communication circuit;   receive a response including first information about a sequence of states for performing the task, and second information about at least one application to be used in association with at least one of the states, from the second external server through the wireless communication circuit;   determine whether the at least one application belongs to the first group of application programs or the second group of application programs;   if the at least one application belongs to the first group of application programs, identify one of the first plurality of function calls and perform an operation associated with the at least one state using the identified one of the first plurality of function calls; and   if the at least one application belongs to the second group of application programs, identify one of the second plurality of function calls and perform the operation associated with the at least one state using the identified one of the second plurality of function calls.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first group of application programs includes one or more of a gallery application, a phone application, a web browser application, a short message service application, a contact application, and an alarm application,   wherein the second group of application programs includes one or more application programs of an instant message application, a social network service application, and a content providing application, and   wherein the one or more application programs are downloadable from the application providing platform.   
     
     
         3 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory is further configured to
 store a list of the second group of application programs, and   wherein the instructions further cause the processor to update the list,   if one or more of the second group of application programs are installed, updated, or deleted.   
     
     
         4 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory stores a list of the first group of application programs. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 perform the operation associated with the at least one state, based on a screen displayed in the touch screen display, if the at least one application belongs to the second group of application programs.   
     
     
         6 . An electronic device comprising:
 a housing;   a touch screen display placed inside the housing and exposed to outside of the housing through a first portion of the housing;   a microphone placed inside the housing and exposed to the outside of the housing through a second portion of the housing;   a wireless communication circuit placed inside the housing;   a processor placed inside the housing and electrically connected to the microphone, the touch screen display, and the wireless communication circuit; and   a memory electrically connected to the processor and configured to store one or more applications,   wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:   obtain a user utterance through the microphone;   transmit data associated with the user utterance to a server equipped with an intelligence system including a plurality of rules, through the wireless communication circuit;   receive a rule, which includes a sequence of states for performing a task corresponding to the user utterance, from among the plurality of rules from the server through the wireless communication circuit;   execute an application, which corresponds to a first state, from among the one or more applications to perform the first state of the sequence of states;   determine whether a second state subsequent to the first state is executable, based on a first screen of the application displayed in the touch screen display;   if the second state is executable, determine a virtual user input enabling an execution screen of the application to be changed from the first screen to a second screen corresponding to the second state;   display the second screen after performing the second state in the touch screen display based on the virtual user input; and   determine whether an execution of the second state is completed, based on the second screen displayed in the touch screen display.   
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 determine whether the second state is executable, by comparing information about the first state with information about one or more objects included in the first screen.   
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 determine whether an execution of the second state is completed, by comparing information about the second state with information about one or more objects included in the second screen.   
     
     
         9 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 obtain information about one or more objects included in the first screen, if the application is executed; and   obtain information about one or more objects included in the second screen, if the second screen is displayed in the touch screen display.   
     
     
         10 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 obtain the information about the one or more objects included in the first screen and the information about the one or more objects included in the second screen, using an Android® framework stored in the memory.   
     
     
         11 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 display the second screen in the touch screen display, by performing an operation corresponding to the virtual user input.   
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 perform an operation corresponding to the virtual user input using an Android® framework stored in the memory.   
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 determine the virtual user input including information about an object and information about an input manner corresponding to the object, if the second state is executable; and   display the second screen in the touch screen display by applying the virtual user input to the object.   
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the memory stores a plurality of applications and a plurality of plug-ins respectively corresponding to the plurality of applications, and
 wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:   select a plug-in, which corresponds to the application, from among the plurality of plug-ins; and   perform the sequence of states using the selected plug-in.   
     
     
         15 . The electronic device of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 execute the application using the selected plug-in;   determine the virtual user input using the selected plug-in; and   display the second screen in the touch screen display using the selected plug-in.   
     
     
         16 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 obtain, if information associated with the second state is insufficient, an additional user utterance associated with the second state through the microphone;   transmit data associated with the additional user utterance to the server through the wireless communication circuit;   receive the information associated with the second state from the server through the wireless communication circuit; and   determine, if the second state is executable, the virtual user input enabling an execution screen of the application to be changed from the first screen to the second screen, based on the information associated with the second state.   
     
     
         17 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 receive, if information associated with the second state is insufficient, a touch input associated with the second state through the touch screen display;   display a screen after performing an operation corresponding to the touch input, in the touch screen display; and   determine whether an execution of the second state is completed, based on the screen after performing the operation corresponding to the touch input.   
     
     
         18 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 transmit, if an execution of the sequence of states is completed, the execution result to the server through the wireless communication circuit.   
     
     
         19 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:
 perform the sequence of states by calling at least part of the functions, if functions associated with the application are predefined.   
     
     
         20 . An application controlling method of an electronic device, the method comprising:
 obtaining a user utterance;   transmitting data associated with the user utterance to a server equipped with an intelligence system including a plurality of rules;   receiving a rule, which includes a sequence of states for performing a task corresponding to the user utterance, from among the plurality of rules from the server;   executing an application corresponding to a first state to perform the first state of the sequence of states;   determining whether a second state subsequent to the first state is executable, based on a first screen of the application;   determining, if the second state is executable, a virtual user input enabling an execution screen of the application to be changed from the first screen to a second screen corresponding to the second state;   displaying the second screen after performing the second state based on the virtual user input; and   determining whether an execution of the second state is completed, based on the second screen.